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We “rethink the week” with Dean Spiliotes, Professor and Civic Scholar at Southern NH University; Valerie Endress, Professor of Political Communication at Rhode Island College; and Jeffrey Feingold, Editor at NH Business Review.
We discuss the disturbing possibility that Donald Trump will refuse to give up the presidency, even if the election results show that he lost. He himself recently retweeted Jerry Falwell Jr.’s suggestion that Trump’s term should be extended by 2 years. He even tweeted his displeasure at the results of the Kentucky Derby: to Trump, winning is the only thing that matters; obeying the rules, not so much.
Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen testified before Congress that he thought that Trump might well refuse to leave office regardless of the democratic process. Nancy Pelosi has also expressed concern that Trump may not give up power after the 2020 election. And the Florida legislature has voted to nullify a popularly approved ballot initiative which restored the franchise to former felons who have already paid their debt to society. One person, one vote — no way. The public will — phooey. But will it help us win?
We are reminded, as well, that Trump made noises shortly before the 2016 election when, expecting to lose to Hillary Clinton, he repeatedly stated that he would not accept such results because he anticipated a lot of voter fraud and tampering with the results. And in 2016, he was not yet inside the White House, he was not Commander in Chief, he had no power to “order” a different result. In 2020, he *will* have such power and more, and he could well choose to exercise it.
We also talked about the (literally overwhelming) number of candidates for the Democratic nomination for president. Some political science researchers predict that voters will find it very difficult to make a reasoned choice among so many options, and may instead gravitate to the “safe,” “comfortable” mainstream candidate whom they feel like they “know” — i.e., Joe Biden. Did the centrists in the Democratic party encourage so many long-shot candidates to run, actually intending that this would lead voters to grab onto Biden to “save” the party?
Finally, we discussed the incarceration of children in Homestead, Florida. The conditions in this child detention facility are shocking: Separated from any family members or friends, the children lead a regimented life. They sleep in barracks with long rows of bunk beds just a couple of feet apart. They are marched out in small groups, always under the watchful eye of dozens of guards, into the yard where they get a few minutes of recreation before being marched to the dining hall and then back to their bunks. They must wait in long lines before they’re allowed a couple of minutes in the portable bathrooms. If the girls get their periods, they must specially request that a guard provide sanitary materials which are noted in each girl’s records. The conditions are humiliating, degrading, and disspiriting.
Worth noting: ICE refers to these kids as “unaccompanied minors.” To ICE, the word “unaccompanied” means that the children arrived in the U.S. without their biological moms or dads. But they were, in fact, accompanied to the border. Most arrived with a close relative — aunt, uncle, cousin, sibling — but the children were nevertheless separated from their loved ones at the border and detained in different facilities.
Meanwhile, this facility is run by a for-profit corporation which is paid $1.6 million per day! And guess who just joined the board of directors: Gen. John Kelly, the former White House Chief of Staff! Other directors include former directors of the CIA, NSA, and others with similar experience in child welfare.
